Hong Kong, China
Chinese flags courtesy Free Gifs & Animations
The following pictures copied from the
1956 USS Helena CA-75 Cruise Book
provided by RD2 Dave Brouchoud
Click on the book image to learn more. |
1956
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Vic Brelje & Randy Turner-Tiger Balm Gardens
Hong Kong, China 1956
High point in the cruise was our week's stay in Hong Kong. In Chinese, Hong Kong means " fragrant harbor" however, there is nobody alive who can remember when it ever was. Perhaps in its early days when it was a notorious pirate hang-out.
It was a town filled with tempting prices. We arrived loaded, bought, and departed poor, with a couple extra feet of draft. No-squeak shoes were noising up every compartment on the ship and, man, some of those crazy clothes.
The British Crown Colony of Hong Kong consists of the territory of Kowloon on the southern tip of the mainland, the New Territories and the island itself. The British have been in possession since 1841.
Hong Kong presents a spectacle in extremes. There are the wealthy homes of the opium kings and the squalid shacks of the refugees from Communist China. There are starvation and exquisite restaurants. Paris creations and beggars' rags. Rare wines and polluted water.
The city tilts from the waterfront to Victoria Peak. The hillside streets are like stairways. A ride on the Peak tramway gives a spectacular panoramic view of the whole colony. At one point in the ascent, the car climbs at a 45-degree angle.
A trip to Hong Kong is incomplete without a visit to the famed Tiger Balm Gardens. The Gardens were created by the wealthy Tiger Man who concocted Tiger Balm, an oriental Hadacol guaranteed to cure all ills except cancer. The Tiger Man died of cancer. The grotesque and garish statuary are a Chinese Disneyland depicting age-old legends and stories. In the midst of the Gardens stands an immense monument. The guide explains it thus. There's a custom in China that commits the children of the family to take care of their parents when they become old. The Tiger Man's folks died before he could fulfill this obligation so he built the monument in their honor. Directly opposite the fabulous mansion and gardens lie the shacks of refugees, clinging to cliffs, threatening to slide down the steep incline with the first heavy rainfall.
There was also Repulse Bay where the wealthy build their resort homes complete with private beaches. The rich merchants sometimes keep their Number Two Wife here. The only reason the Chinese take another wife is because they love their first wife so much. The second wife shares the load when it comes to house keeping and child rearing and she can be trusted more than a servant with the allotment check. So the old man is just being big hearted when he carries home another spouse.
In Aberdeen is the famous sampan village where families live and die on small sampans. In the midst of the water town are the famous floating restaurants.
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